End-user of the year: Corporate VIVENDI UNIVERSAL

Risk Awards 2006

CORPORATES all over the world are struggling to deal with widening pension deficits, but few have had a higher profile than Vivendi Universal. The Paris-based media and telecoms giant was the brainchild of Jean-Marie Messier, its flamboyant former chairman and chief executive, who transformed it from its previous incarnation as utilities giant Compagnie Générale des Eaux.

Having formed the company through the acquisition of Seagram – the Canadian drinks company that owned Universal Studios –